all

SIXERS

, all the time.

Search Results for Thaddeus Young

Search this site:

In yet another "this is what good teams do" type of game, the Sixers absolutely manhandled the Nets at the Wells Fargo Center last night. Right from the opening tip, it was clear which of these teams would eventually be heading to the playoffs. At the final buzzer, it was official.

The defense wasn't there in the first half. They seemed a bit sluggish at times, and they were settling for too many jumpers. Houston couldn't miss a shot. After the break, though, the Sixers put their foot on the Rockets' throat and never let up. A nice, tidy double-digit win at home over a surging Western Conference foe. Good work.

Every time you think the other shoe has dropped, this Sixers team gets up, dusts itself off, and defies all logic. Tonight, a day after a terrible overtime loss to the hapless Kings, the Sixers went into the United Center (where they lost by 45 points in December) and put the East's best team away in a thrilling 97-85 decision. Every time you think they stink, they go out and prove they can play with anyone...anywhere.

There was nothing impressive about the first three quarters. The Sixers defense was lackluster, their offense was scattered and almost lazy, their energy was sporadic, at best. That all changed at the beginning of the fourth. The Sixers erased a double-digit deficit and took down the Hawks.

Fresh off an uninspiring win over the hapless Cavs, a date with the 43-16 Dallas Mavericks looming and the team remains focused. Doug Collins has them saying and doing all the right things, they've come together as a unit. A few topics for an open discussion to follow on our (hopefully still) surging Sixers to follow.

Second night of a back-to-back, fourth game in five nights, 1,200 miles of travel in the dead of night to face a bad team. I'd say a 20-point victory is something to be proud of. The Sixers used a balanced attack, putting seven players in double figures (and Evan Turner at 9 points), and putting the Timberwolves to sleep in the process.

If you can somehow put the final 3:41 of this game out of your mind, the Sixers absolutely dominated the Suns tonight for their 19th win of the year. You know what, I'm going to forget the finishing stretch of this game, it wasn't indicative of the other 44 minutes and change.

The second half began with an ending far too familiar to Sixers fans across the land. A slim loss, but a loss nonetheless. Crunch-time execution still the fatal flaw, mostly on the defensive end this time. A team devoid of talented big men, made to look like a juggernaut by our soft collection of bigs who play small and a career game for DJ Augustin. It all equals the 25th loss of the season and on the outside looking in at playoff seeding.

The plan was for a recap of last night's game, but it's still too soon. Instead, I thought we could all use a pick-me-up. This morning, Rich is going to treat us to a closer look at the Sixers X's and O's (with video). Specifically, how is Jodie Meeks helping the offense and Thad's resurgence. Enjoy.

Six up, fourteen down. Sixty-two left to be played. Doug Collins has the Sixers overachieving, as far as I'm concerned. The only question is whether they can keep it up and whether he'll be able to figure out how to best utilize Evan Turner, before this terrible start can gain enough momentum to submarine his entire rookie campaign. Let's take a look back over the first twenty: stats, POTG leader board and individual player report cards.

So they beat the Nets, big deal, right? Well, it is kind of a big deal when you look at (a) the circumstances and (b) how they did it. Second night of a b-2-b, again. Against a rested team, again. Doug Collins didn't make a single sub in the deciding 36-20 fourth quarter. Solid, solid performance, and really their second in a row.

If you want to sum up last night's win in two words, I'd go with defensive effort. The bench was outstanding, there were some eye-opening individual performances, but the Sixers won this game because they got a superb effort on the defensive end from just about everyone who stepped on the floor. Oh, and Scott Skiles might have had something to do with it as well.

Take a second and think about this season for a moment. Specifically, think about the Sixers' defense. Now think about last season. Think about your reactions, as a fan, when you were watching games last season. What's missing? What did you see countless times last year that rarely, if ever, happens this year?

Indiana is pretty much on the same level as the Sixers. Jrue + Turner + Iguodala is roughly equal to Granger, Hibbert and Collison in terms of the foundation of a team. Neither team has much beyond that. Indy has more veteran scrubs while the Sixers have a bunch of players with some sort of potential (who are mostly scrubs). This was pretty much a game of equals. It didn't look like it on the floor in the second half.

The problem with following this Sixers team too closely is that small inconsistencies stand out, and they tend to carry more weight than they should. Take last year for example: Ed Stefanski droned on and on about how important defense is, then he hired Eddie Jordan and sat idly by while he dismantled the team's defensive identity. This summer, though, the inconsistencies are running in a different, positive direction.